Acclaimed historian charts The Rise & Demise of the Afrikaners

Renowned historian Hermann Gilliomee takes an in-depth look at the Afrikaner's ascent and possible disappearance as a nation in his new book

04 February 2019 - 00:00 By nb-uitgewers/publishers
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Hermann Giliomee, the author of 'The Rise & Demise of the Afrikaners'.
Hermann Giliomee, the author of 'The Rise & Demise of the Afrikaners'.
Image: Supplied

South Africa’s acclaimed historian explains the spectacular rise – and probable demise – of the numerical minority that dominated 20th century South Africa.

The Afrikaners are unique in the world in that they successfully mobilised ethnic entrepreneurship without state assistance, controlled the entire country, and then yielded power without military defeat.

Award-winning author Hermann Giliomee, takes a hard analytical look at this group’s dramatic ascent and possible disappearance as a nation in a series of well-argued thematic chapters. 

'The Rise & Demise of the Afrikaners' by Hermann Giliomee, NB Publishers.
'The Rise & Demise of the Afrikaners' by Hermann Giliomee, NB Publishers.
Image: Supplied

Topics range from ethnic entrepreneurship, political parties’ use of the ‘coloured vote’, ‘Bantu’ education, and the Rubicon speech to Nelson Mandela’s relationship with the last Afrikaner leaders.

Finally, he examines the most likely future for this contentious group and the nature of its imprint on South Africa.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hermann Giliomee is an internationally renowned historian.

His bestselling Die Afrikaners was adapted into a documentary for kykNET in 2018, while the original in English, The Afrikaners: Biography of a People, was published to acclaim both here and in the US and UK. It was described as ‘magisterial’ by The Economist.

He has been an associate at Yale, Cambridge and the Wilson Centre for International Scholars in Washington DC.

• Article provided by NB Publishers.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now